


The Orchard

by Withstarryeyes



Series: Soft College Boiiis [11]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Always wearing Steve's jumpers, Artist Steve, Captain of the Football Team Steve, Cute, Established Relationship, Fall Fun, Fluff, Football Player Steve, M/M, Orchard Visit, SHIELD University, Scrawny Tony, Steve Rogers is a good boyfriend, Steve Rogers plays football, Student Steve, Student Steve Rogers, Student Tony, Student Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony is scrawny, Tony the clothing thief, Tony-centric, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, apple picking, barista tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-12 22:56:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21233945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Withstarryeyes/pseuds/Withstarryeyes
Summary: Tony takes Steve apple-picking as a nice stress reliever.





	The Orchard

**Author's Note:**

> I must thank @starksnack or Kait for drawing a beautiful piece with Steve and Tony in this universe apple picking. I just had to write a fic out of it. Also thank you to everyone who continues to read these fics and comment on every one of them. Just reading all the support really warms my heart. I am so glad that you all enjoy these soft college boiiis.

The pathway was smooth under Steve’s feet as they pounded across the orchard. It was late October and the trees had finally all turned, declaring the end of summer in a festival of shimmering reds, golds, and ambers. 

He had lost track of Tony when they’d arrived, Steve parking the car while Tony shot out and raced towards the barn where a line was forming. It was quiet, despite the nice weather and the fact that it was a Saturday. Tony hadn’t been in line when Steve had exited the car and he was walking around the little barn looking for a shot of curly, unruly hair and the distinctive glint of Tony’s glasses under the mid-afternoon sun. 

He turned the corner, where a line was forming for a hayride to the pumpkin patch and felt a body collide with his shoulder. Caught unaware, Steve tumbled to the dirt ground, grunting as the wind was knocked out of him. In his ear, Tony’s giggle echoed. 

“I spooked ya!” Tony yelled, laughing. Steve tried to glare at him but found it lacking heat. Tony was so seldom this carefree these days. They were coming up on graduation in the next year and Tony had to finish an Honors Thesis on his robotics project with Rhodey. The JARVIS technology seemed to be giving them more and more trouble the further they progressed. It wasn’t uncommon for Steve to come out of their room, woken up by an empty bed, to find Tony staring listlessly at a cup of coffee, bare feet caked in grease and his hair undiscernable from a thunder cloud. 

There was none of that exhaustion in his deep brown eyes now, though, and Steve took in the genuine excitement on Tony’s face. “Maybe I should have forced you to try out for the team. That was a hell of a tackle.”

Tony beamed and held out a hand to help Steve up. It was bathed by the end of Steve’s letterman jacket, the sleeves a full 3 inches too long for Tony’s arms. Beneath that Steve could see a sliver of a worn, gray AC/DC t-shirt with a green logo. Steve took the hand up and pretended to be woozy from the fall, smirking when Tony tried to duck out of the way of his hulking, unsteady weight. “Meanie!”

Steve took in the basket trapped under Tony’s arm with two maps of the orchard. “Got us all setup?”

“Yup,” Tony said, unfolding a map and staring out at the cornfield, matching their direction to the map. He turned one hundred and eighty degrees and led Steve out into the flat, manicured land toward the front of the barn. “We can take home as many apples as we like as long as they fit in that basket and we can carry it out to the car.”

“Oh amazing,” Steve said, “We’ll have enough to feed the entire university. Think Honeycrisp is their favorite?”

Tony jammed his shoulder and Steve bit his tongue, thrilled that Tony, after all this time, still thought him funny. “Can we start at the Galas?” Tony asked, pointing out a thicket of trees near a scarecrow, red orbs decorating its leafy surface. Steve nodded and began plucking them off the tree. Tony, too short to reach anywhere higher than the lower branches, began to pout. 

“Do you want to get on my shoulders?” Steve offered, halting his picking. Tony brightened at this and tied Steve’s jacket around his waist, clambering onto Steve’s shoulders once he was low enough to the ground that Tony had good access. Steve swung back to his full height, feeling the sun on his cheeks and the muscles in his biceps stretch as he supported Tony’s weight. 

A family of four passed them and the daughter tugged on her father’s flannel, pointing at Steve and squealing when he swung her onto his shoulders in the same manner Tony was perched. 

Tony patted the top of Steve’s head, catching his fingers in Steve’s eyes and he blinked, feeling a little like a lightning struck dog. “Let me down, I think we have enough.”

Steve looked at the basket, the bottom now lined with a neat collection of round, shiny apples. Steve picked it up, watching as Tony dusted himself off and set off bounding towards the next thicket. 

Steve followed, a warm feeling building in his chest. They should do this more often, he thought, but let it wash away as Tony used him as a ladder to get a hearty fill of pink lady apples. 

**Author's Note:**

> As always if you enjoyed this please leave a kudos or a comment! I always love reading what you guys leave me :)
> 
> Love,   
C.


End file.
